Continued training is a way of life in Western Australia for staff at Fujitsu Australia where five of the DBA team recently completed an intensive course for Oracle's Database 10g Administrator Certified Professional status.
Tom Hayes, general manager of Fujitsu's western region, which includes the NT, said the 'students' are part of the shared services team that provides a service to clients that lowers their costs, boosts their ability to handle peaks and troughs, and continuity of support through vacations, training leave and public holidays.
"In WA we have some 400 professional staff, and provide a full range of consulting and ICT services under our Fujitsu Services Plus banner.
"We believe strongly that professional services firms like ours must demonstrate their competency against external benchmarks. For this reason we encourage (and support) all our staff to work towards appropriate certifications, such as in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), the Project Management Institute (PMI) or Oracle-specific credentials. DBASS is the part of the Oracle Solution Centre that provides DBA support to a range of clients in WA and beyond.
Keith Ross-Jones, DBA Shared Services manager, said all the students were from the DBASS (DBA Shared Services) team and came from varying levels from junior DBA to principal consultants. An Oracle trainer conducted the hands-on, face-to-face intensive program.
Hayes said a big focus for the company in WA is the export of services, primarily to the eastern states and Asia. "Our two main vehicles for this are our Web Solution Centre (WSC) and our Oracle Solution Centre (OSC), both based in Perth. Keith is a key member of our OSC team."
Ross-Jones said the training benefit comes in two forms. "Firstly, each employee upgrades both their knowledge and skills and gets a certification in the process which improves their employability.
"Secondly, Fujitsu can maintain a highly skilled group of consultants and can demonstrate to our clients both our skills and commitment to providing the highest level of expertise." Hayes added that it also benefits clients to have staff that are on top of their game.
Fujitsu actively encourages ongoing training for its staff and paid for this training and exam. Ross-Jones said that if employees take exams outside of official training, they will be reimbursed in full upon passing the exams.
Hayes said an individual's development needs are identified, supported and managed through a formal career management program, which runs right from career planning through staff development (including postgraduate training) and performance assessment. "Personally (having lived through it for most of my working life), I think the program is a significant differentiator for us, and a significant benefit to our staff and clients."